United Nations General Assembly acknowledges important role of Kazan Action Plan in advancing sport for development and peace

The United Nations General Assembly at its 73rd session adopted the resolution ‘Sport as an enabler of sustainable development’ on 3 December 2018.

The resolution, introduced by Monaco, reaffirms that sport is an important enabler of sustainable development, and recognizes the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect. The document welcomes the growing attention by the international community to exploring and leveraging the role of sport and physical activity in the attainment of development objectives and the enjoyment of human rights.

Members States acknowledged the role of UNESCO in promoting the educational, cultural and social dimensions of sport and physical education, including in the context of the 2030 Agenda. The resolution acknowledges the endorsement by the UNESCO General Conference of the Kazan Action Plan and the sport policy follow-up framework of the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport as a voluntary, overarching reference for fostering international convergence amongst policy-makers in the fields of physical education, physical activity and sport, as well as a potential tool for aligning international and national policy in these fields and the endorsement by the World Health Assembly of the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030 (link is external).

The General Assembly expressed its appreciation of the report submitted by the Secretary-General on “Strengthening the global framework for leveraging sport for development and peace” A/73/325. The report recognizes the “broader policy focus of the Kazan Action Plan [KAP], providing a deeper look and comprehensive course of action for universalizing access and eliminating barriers to physical activity and maximizing the contribution of physical activity to improving health and well-being for all, particularly those groups of society in situations of vulnerability or marginalization.” It points out the “growing convergence around the KAP in the alignment of work on sport across the United Nations system, and Member States have begun to recognize its potential as a pivot point for policy coordination.”

The report further acknowledges that “UNESCO plays a pivotal role in its work with ministers and senior officials in charge of sport and physical education. Its lead in supporting the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport and the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport is critical to any efforts towards policy coherence in the work on sport for development and peace.”

The United Nations Action Plan on Sport for Development and Peace 2018–2020 (link is external) uses the overarching policy commitments of the Kazan Action Plan as a basis for strengthened global framework on sport for development and peace. It calls for the establishment of guidance and toolkits for using the Kazan Action Plan as a framework for engagement on sport for development and peace across various contexts. It commits to establish national policy frameworks for mainstreaming sport in development processes, in line with the main policy areas of the Kazan Action Plan.